"Lonely At The Top" is a song by American composer Randy Newman, first released in a live version on his 1971 album Randy Newman Live, and then in a studio version on the album Sail Away the following year.
The live album was known to the early Residents; the cover of their 1971 demo tape B.S. was intended as a parody of the album art of Randy Newman Live. "Lonely At The Top" (the closing track on the live album) was covered by the group in the mid-1970s for their unfinished feature film Vileness Fats, where it was to be performed by their friend Margaret Smyk in the guise of glamorous nightclub singer Peggy Honeydew.
In the 1984 VHS featurette Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?, the song was replaced on the soundtrack with a similar Residents song titled "Lord It's Lonely". The Residents' original version of "Lonely At The Top" has never been issued in full, though snippets of one take on the Vileness Fats night club set were included in bonus material accompanying the 2016 documentary film Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents.
Lyrics[]
Original version[]
Margaret Smyk as Peggy Honeydew performing "Lonely At The Top" in Vileness Fats
I've been around the world Had my pick of any girl You'd think I'd be happy, but I'm not Everybody knows my name But it's just a crazy game
Oh, it's lonely at the top
Listen to the band play, they're playing just for me Listen to the people paying just for me All the applause and all the praise And all the money I have made
Oh, it's lonely at the top
Listen all you fools out there Go on and love me, I don't care Oh, it's lonely at the top Oh, it's lonely at the top
Oh, it's lonely at the top
See also[]
- Randy Newman
- Randy Newman Live
- Peggy Honeydew
- Vileness Fats
- "Lord It's Lonely"
